


The Dragon Queen

by Snugglebuttkitten



Series: A Thousand Lifetimes of Loving You [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - No Kwamis, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Dragon Hunters, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29397498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snugglebuttkitten/pseuds/Snugglebuttkitten
Summary: Expert Dragon Hunter Luka Couffaine bites off more than he can chew when he is sent on a rather unusual mission to not kill, but KIDNAP three dragonlings.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: A Thousand Lifetimes of Loving You [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150445
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	The Dragon Queen

**Author's Note:**

> Just some good ol fashioned Dragon Marinette x Human Luka

As much as Luka Couffaine hated to admit it, he had no one to blame for his current predicament but himself. He should have stopped while he was ahead. He should have listened to his sister when she had  _ begged _ him not to take this job. Hell. That should have been his very  _ first _ clue because Juleka never begged. She was too proud for that. But he was going on five years, or maybe it was six now, of successful dragon hunts. So when he had been offered this unorthodox job, he had jumped at the challenge. Any bozo with a sword and half a brain cell could  _ hunt _ and  _ kill  _ dragons. He was living proof of that. He had been doing it since he was fifteen, and he hadn’t been the brightest tool in the shed when he was younger. But to  _ kidnap _ three dragonlings? Now that was a challenge. Just the type of challenge that Luka lived for. If he pulled off a job like this, not only would he become a whole lot richer, he would be a legend. His name would go down in the history books. The first Dragon Hunter to ever successfully kidnap not one, but  _ three _ baby dragons without being roasted alive.

It was by far the most dangerous job he had ever taken, that was for sure. Dragons were solitary creatures. They tended to avoid each other, sticking to and guarding their own territory. The exception was mating season, when males would temporarily abandon their territories in search of a female to copulate with. Most of the time, taking out a dragon was as simple as sneaking up on it while it slept and lopping off its head. Sometimes he got lucky and they didn’t even wake up before he managed to liberate their head from their body. More often than not, there was a fight. But Luka had been doing this a long time and he had learned from the very best. So far that had kept him alive and in mostly one piece while fulfilling his unusual calling. Going after dragonlings, though? That was a whole other level of dangerous. Dragons only mated once a year, and only a handful of females were lucky enough to conceive.

As a result, dragons were ridiculously protective of their offspring. Especially the mothers. Male dragons stuck around for a few weeks after the dragonlings hatched, just long enough to where they were old enough to be left for short periods while their mother hunted. Mothers were the ones that raised the young, staying with them for the first hundred years of their life and teaching them everything they needed to know about survival before sending them out to claim their own territories. Mother dragons didn’t mess around when it came to protecting their babies. Cross them, and a female dragon with offspring would hunt you to the ends of the earth just to slowly disembowel you. Mother dragons didn’t go for the swift and merciful kill. They dragged it out, made you pay for going after their coveted young. 

That was probably a large part of the reason Juleka had begged him to pass on the job. If he failed in this, that meant he had been caught. And if he was caught, he was as good as dead. Which is why he was hellbent on not getting caught. He was almost home free, too. He had the babies, nestled snug in the specially made dragon scale satchel slung over his shoulders. Dragon scales were fireproof, so the little buggers couldn’t accidentally burn his only means of transporting them while they slept. He had been careful, biding his time and laying in wait for the moment the female had left to hunt before scaling the face of the mountain and entering the cave where she had made her nest. 

The three dragonlings had been fast asleep, smoke puffing from tiny ridged nostrils on every exhale. They were no bigger than kittens, their scales much softer than the armored ones adult dragons sported. Carefully he had grabbed them one by one. First the largest, a male most likely. Males were often twice the side of females. They also tended to have scales that were bolder, brighter, or darker in color, while females sported pale, muted colors. This one was the color of obsidian, his belly a green so dark it almost looked black as well. He was about the size of a four or five month old kitten, small silver horns already beginning to poke out from his skull. The second one, also likely a male had scales the color of spun gold, his belly a pale and iridescent blue. He was closer to the size of a three month old kitten, and notably lacked horns like his brother. The smallest was most certainly female, her scales a soft dove gray while her belly was baby pink. Four small horns poked out of her skull, two on either side. She was probably the size of a four or five week old kitten and he was careful to make sure she rested atop her brothers lest she be squished. 

With the babies secured and still fast asleep, Luka had made his way back down the mountain and into the forest below. The forest stretched many miles in all directions, but if he could make it to Idopolis, the large city that sat beyond the forest, he could most certainly throw the dragon off his trail. Most dragons didn’t go around destroying townships anymore, even when they were brassed off. Mostly, they kept to themselves and tried to lay low. The advancement of human technology in the last few years made humans more of a threat than they had previously been. Luka was old fashioned and therefore preferred old fashioned methods of killing dragons. He carried a gun, but he preferred his trusty sword or crossbow any day. If he made it to the city, Mama Dragon would most likely back off and with a few calls he would have a ride out of here by sunrise tomorrow. But that all hinged entirely upon whether or not he actually managed to make it to the city before she caught up. He still had several miles of ground to cover, and the bone-chilling roar that had just caused the ground beneath his feet to quake made him pretty sure she had returned and found her babies missing.

Poking his head out of the tree hollow he had ducked into, Luka craned his neck and stared at the canopy overhead. The sky beyond the treetops was bright blue, only the occasional fluffy white cloud scuttling by. Most importantly, there was no sign of Mama Dragon. Yet. He would greatly prefer not to have to fight her today, but he drew his sword nonetheless. Better to be prepared than to be caught unaware. Keeping low to the ground, the young man slipped from his hiding space and darted deeper into the forest. He didn’t have a map or a compass, but he knew the general direction of the city and all he needed was to make it to the main road and he would be able to follow that into the safety of civilization. He moved quickly but cautiously. He wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but he also didn’t want to leave a trail of broken twigs that would lead her straight towards him. Occasionally the strong beat of wings would sound nearby and he would duck into bushes or hollows or beneath rocky overhangs until the sound faded into silence once more.

By this point, Luka had been travelling through the forest for roughly two hours now. With those calculations, he knew he had to be nearly upon the road and slowly began to angle his trajectory so he would be walking parallel to the road while still staying well within the cover of the foliage. He could just see the strip of asphalt through the trees to his left when the sudden beat of wings returned, so close he could feel the air stirring around him. Luka spun, gaze searching desperately for some form of cover but this close to the road, options were limited. He knew the moment he had been spotted because a roar filled the air, shaking the ground beneath his feet and sending a chill down his spine. Luka spun back in the direction he had been headed, knowing he couldn’t outrun the beast but willing to give it his best shot. He barely got three feet before something solid slammed into the back of his skull and knocked him clear off his feet. He was out before he even hit the ground.

**Author's Note:**

> Lemme know what you think!


End file.
